Iran holds runoff parliamentary vote

An Iranian woman votes at a polling station in Tehran on March 2, 2012. Iran's 48 million voters are being called on to decide their next parliament today in elections whose turnout will be weighed to give an idea of support for the Islamic republic's regime.

Polls opened this morning in 33 constituencies, and the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has already cast his vote, said Press TV.

Ahmadinejad's opponent secured a comfortable majority of seats of the new parliament in the first round, said AP.

Reformist candidates are mainly suppressed, so today's vote is being seen mainly as a contest between those loyal to Ahmadinejad and those loyal to Khamenei, part of a growing divide in Iran's powerful clerical establishment, said Reuters.